Tuchel, who is already facing a one-match ban after his unusual clash over a handshake with Antonio Conte following Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham on Sunday, faces the prospect of further disciplinary action after appearing to questions Taylor. impartiality. The German was furious after both Spurs goals were allowed to stand in controversial circumstances, denying his side an important win, and he did not hold back in his criticism of the refereeing. Tuchel said “the whole dressing room” has a problem with Taylor, who has a history of angering Chelsea with his decisions, and went on to question whether the 43-year-old should be ruled out of taking charge of the Stamford Bridge side. games now. The comments from Tuchel, who is also waiting to hear whether he and Conte will be charged by the FA after red-carding opposing managers, come less than a year after more than 80,000 Chelsea fans signed a petition calling for Taylor to be sacked from their club games. Statistics show that Taylor has shown more yellow cards to Chelsea players than any other team during his career. He has also shown controversial red cards to Rhys James and Mateo Kovacic, and was criticized for not punishing Manchester United’s Harry Maguire for an apparent stamp on Michy Batshuayi in February 2020. That story went into Chelsea’s tie with Spurs. Tuchel’s first outburst came when Taylor decided not to penalize Rodrigo Bentancur’s challenge on Kai Havertz in the build-up to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg making it 1-1 midway through the second half. He also claimed the goal should have been disallowed for offside against Richarlison. However, Mike Dean, the video assistant referee, ruled that the Spurs striker was not interfering with play and that his position had not affected Edouard Mendy’s ability to save Hojbjerg’s shot. The officials were guided by Mendy hitting Chelsea defenders instead of appealing for offside. But Tuchel was furious. He complained about failing to give Havertz a free-kick and then clashed with Conte on the goal line. The two managers had to be removed and both booked. Tuchel was later spoken to by the fourth official after going down the line to celebrate Rhys James who had put Chelsea 2-1 up. The atmosphere in the stadium was tense and Chelsea were furious when VAR before the corner that led to Harry Kane’s 96th minute equalizer did not lead to Dean instructing Taylor to send off Spurs centre-back Christian Romero for pulling Mark Koukourella’s hair. Taylor had not seen the incident in real time and Dean’s view was that Romero had not committed a red card offence. The Argentine will not face retroactive action from the FA. However, Tuchel has a case to answer following his comments about Taylor. He was told that Chelsea fans have a history of grievances with Taylor. “I don’t think it’s just some of the fans who believe that,” he said. “I can assure you that the whole dressing room, every single person is thinking that. I can’t understand how the first goal isn’t offside. And I don’t understand since when players can pull other people’s hair and stay on the pitch and attack the last corner.” Start your evenings with the Guardian’s view of the world of football Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Tuchel, who said his players are worried about Taylor, was asked if Taylor should be kept away from Chelsea. “Perhaps it would be better,” he replied. “Maybe it would be better, but we also have VAR to help make the right decisions.” Tuchel has made light of his clash with Conte but is expected to miss Chelsea’s trip to Leeds this weekend following his red card. “I can’t coach, but the referee can whistle the next game,” he said. “Good.” Conte, who also played down his battle with Tuchel, also faces the prospect of a ban for Spurs’ home game with Wolves. The Italian later took to social media to take another swipe at Tuchel for getting past the Spurs bench and coming down the line to celebrate Rhys James putting Chelsea 2-1 up. “Lucky I didn’t see you… it would have been so worth it to make you travel…” Conte wrote on Instagram.
